I'm building $500 million in self storage.

Here are my 7 steps to get a SS deal done: Before we get started...

I'm not going to talk about how we get leads or run our top of funnel in this thread.

These steps are all about taking a potential deal from idea to closed.

I’m building $500 million in storage.

Here are 7 things you must know to get a deal done: Before we get started...

I'm not going to talk about how we get leads or run our top of funnel in this thread.

These steps are all about taking a potential deal from idea through construction.

Let's go 👇

I built a $100M self-storage business.

Here's the 10-year story in 2 minutes (+ timeless lessons you can apply to your career): Prior to storage, my college roommate & I worked at separate hedge funds.

We collaborated on everything.

We were deadly.

We shorted a company called GTAT into bankruptcy.

It made a lot of money.

Lesson: You can create value by having conviction in something you know deeply.

Commercial real estate is booming.

I've been active on Twitter for 4 months, and the brainpower from this community is massive.

Here are 9 must-follow rising stars (and current kings) in CRE: Ryan Auger (@redwood_ryan_a)

Self storage in the southeastern US. He shares specifics about his deals that could help you make your first deal.

If he sticks with it, he will be a storage mogul one day.

https://twitter.com/redwood_ryan_a/status/1655553107969835008

Two giants just combined to form the new largest self storage operator in the United States

I can summarize this deal and the future of the self storage space into three words:

Economies of Scale Self storage is a commodity

It's a garage (with air conditioning, sometimes).

When you sell a commodity, you win by achieving economies of scale.

Economies of scale refer to the cost advantage through scale.

Produce it the cheapest = make the most profit

We bought this piece of land in November of 2020 for $1,250,000 and built a self storage facility

When stabilized it will be worth between $26,000,000 - $29,000,000

Here's what went into this deal: After buying the 1.71 acre parcel, we got to work on development

The biggest problem we had in the beginning was that the utilities ran through the middle of it

After a myriad of issues dealing with the utility companies, we started construction in October of 2021

My software businesses will generate over $4 million in 2023.

I have no idea how to write code.

My private equity company is building $400 million in storage.

I'd never built a building before.

You don't need to be an expert.
🧵 There's a fallacy that in order to build a business, you have to be an expert in the field.

Not necessarily.

To build something, you need to be able to attract, assemble, and coordinate people who have the expertise you lack.

Then, fill in the gaps.

2/5

I got into self storage by advising some of the most sophisticated investors in the world to short it.

7 years and 3 businesses later, my life is still consumed by it.

Here's the story of how I fell into being an entrepreneur. I spent the first 8 years of my career at J.P. Morgan. My only desire out of college was to make money, and I went straight to Wall Street thinking that was the quickest way to quench my thirst.